Forsaking a Senate bid, the congressman says, "I can be most effective for Rhode Island by building seniority in the House."

08:48 AM EST on Thursday, March 24, 2005

BY SCOTT MacKAY
Journal Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin yesterday formally took himself out of a 2006 U.S. Senate run and urged U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to consider becoming the Democratic Senate candidate against Republican incumbent Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee.

Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez

Rep. James R. Langevin, in announcing that he would not take on Sen. Lincoln Chafee in 2006, anointed Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy and ex-Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse as worthy challengers for that seat.

At a news conference at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Langevin boosted the Senate candidacies of Kennedy and Sheldon Whitehouse, the former attorney general, and dismissed the bid by Secretary of State Matthew Brown, the only announced Democrat for the seat.

Langevin asserted that Brown -- who has been in elected office for only about two years -- lacked experience and was not qualified to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate.

"Matt Brown is a nice guy but I don't believe he has the experience to serve in the U.S. Senate," Langevin told reporters. He said he would urge Brown to drop out of the race.

"I will call Matt Brown in the near future to urge him to withdraw from the race and urge him to get behind one of the stronger candidates, either Congressman Kennedy or Attorney General Whitehouse."

But Brown has no intention of ending his quest for the Democratic Senate nomination, his spokesman, Matt Burgess, said last night. Burgess also said Brown would not comment on Langevin's assertion that he was too inexperienced.

"In the coming days, other worthy public servants may express their desire to seek the Senate seat," said Langevin. "I am confident that whether it be Congressman Kennedy or Attorney General Whitehouse, we will support the candidate best-equipped and prepared to fight and deliver for Rhode Island's families in the Senate."

Democratic Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty said yesterday he plans to run for governor in 2006, and is not interested in the Senate seat.

Kennedy will now consider a run for the Senate, a matchup that would pit two New England political dynasties -- the Chafees and the Kennedys -- against each other.

Kennedy is only 37, but he has had a long political career. He was elected to the Rhode Island House while still a Providence College student. Kennedy, son of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, was first elected to the House in 1994 and has won overwhelming victories every two years since.

"In light of Congressman Langevin's decision, I have been asked by people I respect and admire to consider running for United States Senate," said Kennedy in a statement released last night.

Kennedy confidantes contacted last night believe he is torn between building his senority in the House, where he is a member of the most important spending committee, and helping Democrats increase their numbers and working in the Senate. Kennedy's father has said he intends to run for reelection in 2006 and he has been actively raising money, with almost $5 million in his campaign chest already.

"I think he is serious about looking at the Senate," said William Lynch, state Democratic chairman. "My intuition says that he ultimately decides not to run, but I would not be shocked if does."

If both Kennedys won in 2006, they would become the first father-son combination to serve simultaneously in the Senate.

Whitehouse, 49, of Providence, is a lawyer with an extensive political résumé, having served as U.S. Attorney, director of the state Department of Business Regulation, attorney general and legal counsel to former Gov. Bruce Sundlun.

Whitehouse declined comment yesterday, but is expected to run if Kennedy decides not to make the race. As is often the case in cozy Rhode Island, there are links between Whitehouse and Chafee. Whitehouse's late father, Charles Whitehouse, was a diplomat to Chafee's father, the late U.S. Sen. John Chafee.

Chafee, 51, a moderate often at odds with Republican conservatives and President Bush, was elected in 2000 with 57 percent of the vote over Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Weygand.

Explaining his decision not to run, Langevin, 40, of Warwick, said he still has important work to do in the House, where he is a member of the Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.

"I have come to the conclusion that rather than starting over in the Senate, I can be most effective for Rhode Island by building seniority in the House," said Langevin.

Langevin, who was flanked by his mother, June Langevin, his brother, David Langevin, his sister-in-law, Cheryl Langevin, and two of his nieces, said he was relieved to have finally made the decision after months of being courted by national Democrats seeking a strong candidate against Chafee, a former Warwick mayor.

What Langevin left unsaid was the obvious political calculation -- that he would be trading a safe House seat for a race that was never a lock, despite reputable polls showing that he had a strong chance of knocking off Chafee.

Most incumbent senators win reelection. In 2004, only one of the 27 Senate incumbents up for election lost -- South Dakota's Tom Daschle, the chamber's Democratic leader.

"Incumbency reelection rates have been incredibly high in recent elections," said Wendy Schiller, a Brown University political science professor who studies the U.S. Senate.

Incumbents have even higher reelection rates in the small states in New England, where sophisticated voters understand the power of seniority, said Garrison Nelson, a University of Vermont political science professor and expert on New England politics.

Rhode Island has not turned an incumbent senator out of office since 1936, when Democrat T.F. Green defeated Republican Jesse Metcalf.

With reports from Journal staff writer Katherine Gregg